The Editors of Sports Illustrated Kids - Big Book of WHO Baseball: The 101 Stars Every Fan Needs to Know

BIG BOOK OF WHO

BASEBALL

CHAMPIONS

These clutch performers have starred in the postseasonoften more than once.

Who had 14 total bases in one World Series game?

Super Stat:

Consecutive 30-homer seasons by Pujols to begin his career. Thats the longest streak ever.

Four players have hit three home runs in a World Series game. But only one of them added two more hits: Albert Pujols .

The St. Louis Cardinals slugger was held hitless by the Texas Rangers in the first two games of the 2011 Fall Classic. When he finally found his stroke in Game 3, he more than made up for his slow start. In addition to his three homers, he added a pair of singles, becoming just the second player to collect five hits in one World Series game. St. Louis won 167 to take a 21 lead in the series. The Cardinals went on to win the world championship in seven games.

It turned out to be Pujolss last hurrah for St. Louis. In the off-season, the nine-time All-Star signed with the Los Angeles Angels as a free agent.

DID YOU KNOW?

The man who guided the Cardinals to the 2011 title, Tony La Russa, is one of just two managers to win a World Series in both the American and National League. (The other is Sparky Anderson.) La Russa guided the Oakland As to a championship in 1989. La Russa was known as one of the brightest minds the game has seen. He graduated from law school in 1978. The next year, he got his first job as a major league manager when he was hired by the Chicago White Sox. La Russas teams won 12 division titles in 33 years. He retired after the 2011 World Series and was inducted into the Hall of Fame three years later.

Who hit the most home runs in World Series history?

Super Stat:

Career World Series RBIs for Mantle, the most ever. He also holds the mark with 123 total bases.

During his career, Mickey Mantle was known for hitting big home runs. Big meaning that they traveled far (one went 565 feet). But also big meaning that they came in important situations. No situation is more important than a World Series game. And that is when the centerfielder was at his best. Mantle hit 18 Fall Classic home runs, more than any other slugger.

Of course, it helped that he played in so many pivotal games. During his 18-season career, the Mick powered the New York Yankees to the World Series 12 timesand won seven championships.

FAST FACT:

Mantle was named after Mickey Cochrane, a Hall of Fame catcher for the Yankees.

Which hometown hero was named MVP of the LCS and World Series in the same year?

Super Stat:

Runs batted in by Freese in the 2011 playoffs, the most in MLB history in a single postseason.

A handful of players have taken home trophies as most valuable player of both the League Championship series and World Series, but only David Freese has done it for his hometown team. The native of the St. Louis suburbs had a monster postseason for the Cardinals in 2011. In the League Championship Series, he hit three homers and had a .545 batting average against the Milwaukee Brewers. In the World Series, he hit a game-tying two-run double in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 6 with the Cards facing elimination. He then won the game with a walk-off home run in the 11th inning. St. Louis won the Series the next night behind Freeses two RBIs.

Freese also starred in the Cardinals first-round series. He had a four-RBI outing in Game 4. But there is no MVP award in Division Series play, so he had to be content with two trophies (and one ring).

Who was the ace of the unlikeliest world champs?

The 1969 World Series was won by a team that is known today as the Miracle Mets. Entering the season, New York had never finished higher than ninth in the 10-team National League. But behind pitcher Tom Seaver , who won 25 games in the regular season, the Mets won 100 games. They made it all the way to the World Series, where they toppled the Baltimore Orioles in five games. Seaver threw a complete game in New Yorks 21, 10-inning win in Game 4. For his performance, Tom Terrific was named Sportsman of the Year by SPORTS ILLUSTRATED.

Who is the only pitcher to throw a perfect game in the World Series?

In 1954, Baltimore Orioles pitcher Don Larsen had an awful 321 record. Two years later, after being traded to the New York Yankees, he threw the greatest game in baseball history. Facing the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series, Larsen retired every hitter he faced. The righty needed just 97 pitches, and went to a three-ball count on only one hitter. (In his other start in that series, he walked four hitters in less than two innings.)

After Larsen struck out pinch hitter Dale Mitchell to end the perfect game, his catcher, Yogi Berra, famously jumped into his arms. The Yankees went on to win the series in seven games. Larsen helped New York to another title in 1958, when he had a 0.96 ERA in two games against the Milwaukee Braves.

FAST FACT:

The only other postseason no-hitter was thrown by Roy Halladay of the Phillies in a 2010 Division Series game.

Who was the MVP when the Kansas City Royals ended their 30-year championship drought?

In the 2014 World Series, Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals made the final out of the decisive seventh game with the tying run on third base. The following October, he made up for his failure to come through in the clutch. In the 2015 Fall Classic against the New York Mets, the Royals catcher drove in the tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 5. He then started the game-winning rally with a single two innings later, as the Royals sewed up their first title since 1985. Perez joined Pablo Sandoval of the 2014 San Francisco Giants as the only World Series MVPs to hail from Venezuela.

FAST FACT:

The 2015 World Series was the first to feature two teams that were formed during baseballs expansion era, which started in 1961.

Who was the last pitcher to win three games in a single World Series?

In 2001, the man called the Big Unit just got better as the year rolled on. In the regular season, Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks won 21 games, led the National League in ERA, and struck out 372 batters. (Only two pitchers have rung up more strikeouts in a season since 1900.) In the first round of the playoffs, the 6' 10" lefthander stepped up his game. He went 20 with a 1.13 ERA against the Atlanta Braves. Somehow he topped that performance in the World Series.